She paid no mind to how many times he spent himself inside her. Each time was a triumphant fist in Liam Tesano’s perfect face. This was all his doing. He wanted to cast her aside until she was good enough? Until she had risen to his impeccable expectations? She’d show him and she’d damn well enjoy every minute of it.
PART II~VISIONARY TESANO~
~1~
Ellis Island~1938
The Federal Immigration Station was located in Upper New York Bay. Immigrants began arriving at Ellis Island as early as 1892 when the port first opened. Since 1905 the island had averaged 1 million immigrants per year.
The tide began to shift however in 1921 when the U.S. President Warren G. Harding signed the Emergency Quota Act. The law stated that annual immigration from any country could not exceed 3 percent of the total number of immigrants already in the United States from that same country. The law was further strengthened a few years later with the passing of the Immigration Act of 1924 which limited total annual immigration to 165,000.
As he and his fellow travelers disembarked from The Venetian Sword, Liam Tesano thought of his brothers. He hadn’t heard from them in so long. A letter he’d received from his eldest brother Emilio had confirmed they were all en route to America. Liam was sure they had all made it there prior to the country’s new immigration laws.
With a sigh meant to clear his mind of the unsettling train of thought his brothers tended to instill, Liam focused on what was soon to become his new home. At least that was his hope. Don Sante Alma’s connections had set them all up pretty nicely. Arrangements had been made for Liam and his group to stay in a boarding house until weeks end. After that, Liam and Athena were to take ownership of a 5th floor walk-up in Brooklyn. The Don had originally acquired the property for a nephew and his wife. The couple had since moved to the suburbs with a growing family.
Their current lodgings, convenient to downtown, were only a few miles away from the city’s transportation haven known as Grand Central Station. Located on Manhattan’s Bleecker Street, the area was home to many immigrants hailing from Northern Italy. Liam was sure his friends would find themselves among approving company.
Liam found that he wasn’t worried that any of them would have trouble making their way in the city. This, in spite of the fact that the city-the country was in the midst of a cataclysmic depression. More immigrants were actually leaving then as opposed to arriving.
Still, rigid inspections were a necessary obstacle before admittance would be granted. Not even the Don’s spectacular connections could help them avoid that. While disembarking Liam heard concerned passengers sharing stories from family new to America. By letter, they had been advised to keep themselves fit lest they find themselves guests of one of the dormitory rooms reserved for immigrants detained for any number of health defects.
Physical health policies weren’t the only inspection hurdles to cross. Thanks to his affinity for scouring the Wall Street Journal, Liam had read of the Eugenics movement that had swept many countries including the U.S.
Eugenics, derived from the Greek eugenes- eu meaning good, well and genos meaning race, stock- was a practice meant to improve the genetic quality of the human population by excluding those groups believed to be less desirable. Exclusion could take many forms including sterilization, institutionalization and outright murder.
In Liam’s eyes the practice was an abomination but; according to many of the articles he’d read, the movement had gained a considerable number of followers. Its weight could be felt in the midst of the immigrant screenings. The popular opinion was such that Eugenics became highly regarded as a means by which to formulate more...restrictive policies. Those seeking entrance to the country could be denied if found physically defective. Defects didn’t only pertain to physical inconsistencies. An immigrant could be denied on the basis of a mental or even moral defect. A criminal or impoverished background could be seen as a defect, not to mention backgrounds of a more sexual nature. Homosexuals or those viewed as having part in ‘deviant’ or ‘illicit’ sexual interests were grounds on which an immigrant could be barred admittance.
Liam cast such thoughts from his mind and looked across the sea of new arrivals. He quickly found Athena not too far away. They were separated by a small crowd, but he didn’t attempt to bridge the distance. Neither did she. He knew she’d expected more time with him during their voyage. He’d promised that he would make it up to her when they arrived and settled. It had been important to make the connections he’d managed to organize where Liam’s Italian clients could arrange to have their product waiting for pickup when the ship made port in Venice. Those products could then be delivered to the merchants’ customers whenever the ship docked. A healthy cut of the proceeds would go to Liam and the ship’s crew.
Additionally, Liam and his partners would meet the ship when it rotated to the American East Coast to unload new product from their Italian clients. They would supply those same clients with products from new American contacts. It all had the makings of a lucrative venture. The time taken to set all the wheels in motion had been well worth the effort.
Now, Liam could only pray that effort hadn’t been at the expense of what he hoped to build with Athena. She hadn’t spoken to him since the night of the ship’s dance. She had taken to having her meals alone in the dining room, with others she’d met aboard the ship or sometimes in her cabin. Liam admitted he hadn’t paid much mind at first. He’d still been in the thick of putting the final touches to his plan. As that business began to fall in place, he’d still made no effort to reach out and smooth ruffled feathers.
He studied the set of her head and rigid posture while she moved along with scores of other travelers toward the massive white processing center looming ahead. He wondered if waiting had been the right move.
With a tight smile, Liam veered off course and began to make his way toward her. He angled his way through the steadily moving bodies until they were side by side. He nudged her once, twice, smiling more broadly when she grimaced. She refused to look his way, merely hoisting the cloth satchel she’d carried from the ship. Their trunks would be collected by transport that would carry them on to the city once they were processed. Another courtesy from Don Alma.
Liam nudged Athena a third time. That one earned him a scowl when she turned her pretty face up toward him. The scowl softened into a look of quiet surprise and curiosity.
“Liam.”
“I believe this inspection wait will be less irritating if you stop ignoring me.”
She looked as if to deny his point, then smiled and nodded. Liam touched her arm again, urging her to stop where they were.
“I’m sorry that so much of my time was taken up with the crew aboard the ship,” he said.
Athena was already shaking her head. “Please don’t. Apologizing is the last thing you should be doing to me of all people.”
Liam frowned but decided not to probe the remark.
Athena looked toward the processing center in the distance. “I doubt conversation will do much to make time lighter inside that place,” she said.
“Agreed. Maybe this will help.”
Athena eyed Liam curiously as he dug around in his own satchel until he retrieved a multicolored swath of fabric. He presented the cloth, then produced one of the American magazines she’d seen aboard the ship. Her curiosity laced with more amusement than surprise as he thumbed through the broad pages.
Liam stopped at a page and pointed. “Think you can make this out of that?” he nodded toward the fabric.
Athena scanned the photograph of a man enjoying a pipe before a fire. Liam was pointing to a smoking jacket he wore. Her mouth curved into a smug smile when she next looked his way.
“Of course I can,” she said.
~2~
Over the next several weeks things settled into a rhythm for the Tesano entourage. Nandi and the guys remained in their original lodgings at the boarding house on Bleecker Street. Liam and Athena moved into the 5th floor three bedroom in Brooklyn. The place was spacious enough for the new tenants to have their own personal spaces. Liam had an office and Athena had a place to explore the sewing talents that were already proving to be an integral part of Liam’s vision.
Liam’s office also doubled as his bedroom. There had been no talk of sharing sleeping quarters. In truth, there were too many other matters to see to. The warehouse for one. Product had been steadily arriving. Aside from the arrangements Liam had made with the Venetian’s crew, however, no other outlets vied for DiCenzo’s fabrics.
Liam’s partners were understandably concerned and wanted Liam’s secret for remaining calm. Liam would only say that all would materialize when the time was right. Meanwhile, the group took charge of distributing leaflets inviting local tailors and department store bigwigs to a glimpse of something new and sweeter for their abused wallets.
The latter was a refreshing change indeed. With the country still in the grips of the Great Depression, merchants were keen to entertain any plan to save money while maintaining the kind of product in stores to keep their cash strapped customers patronizing their shops.
~~~
“A show.” Nandi’s flat tone seemed to echo in Liam’s office/bedroom. He eyed his oldest friend with both skepticism and concern.
“Have you heard what they’re starting in Milan? Showing clothes?”
